Donovan Douglas - Roads offer too little room for bicycles

Related Articles

Comments

B.Muse

With all due respect Mr. Douglas, banning bicyclists from any roads in Yamhill County is a dumb idea. Cycling in and among ANY traffic anywhere can be dangerous and cyclists should use care in selecting which roads to ride and when. But, in my 40-some odd years as a cyclist, I will tell you without a doubt, the roads here are perfectly adequate for cycling and local drivers are generally very respectful and courteous towards cyclists.

It's not unusual for me to ride 2-3 hours and see perhaps five cars. If you've spend any time riding in and around larger cities, riding a bicycle in Yamhill county is heavenly. Like anything, you need to pick your spots. Highway 47 has perhaps the best shoulders of any road in the county and is more than adequate for cyclists and auto traffic.

I would agree that better shoulders on many roads would benefit everyone and unless I missed something, Oregon does still require that a portion of gasoline taxes be used to fund pedestrian and bicycling facilities. (see Oregon Bicycle Bill, 1971) Lobbying ODOT and Yamhill county to apply some of that funding towards improvements to the link roads like Meadow Lake and Westside road would be far more productive than trying to ban cyclists. Get real.

10:00 am - Fri, August 9 2013

Opinionated Observer

Bicyclists too should pay a tax for road use. It is true they do not contribute to the wear and tear of the roads such as a vehicle, but equal rights, equal use, equally taxed for the right to use the roadway should be in order.

07:48 am - Mon, August 12 2013

Trafik

I only know a couple of people use only a bike for transportation, eschewing cars altogether. The rest also drive cars, most of them daily. These bicyclists-who-also-drive are already paying road taxes. Furthermore, it might be suggested that a person who gains the benefits of physical fitness that bicycling provides, is also contributing by helping keep health care costs down.

These people who wish to legislate every tiny aspect of human life should poke their heads outside the bubbles in which they live and observe the rest of us going about our lives sometime. That goes for you, too, Donovan J. Douglas. Please, oh please protect me from myself!

04:16 pm - Fri, August 16 2013

RichardJ

I would be happy to pay a road tax for my bicycle, prorated for the weight of the vehicle.

07:05 am - Mon, August 19 2013

Seabiscuit

"These bicyclists-who-also-drive are already paying road taxes."

I drive a car and a pickup. Using the above logic, why should I have to pay taxes on both when I've already paid on one.....................?

I also ride a bicycle. My thought is that if there was a little more pro-active enforcement of traffic laws as they pertain to bicycles, and some, not all, but some bicyclists didn't act so entitled perhaps these arguments wouldn't arise.

Remember the nasty comments when bikes ran the stop sign in Amity and got a ticket? I was on the Ballston-Amity road that day and personally observed more than one group riding 3 and 4 abreast and refusing to get into a single file line so cars could safely get by. Since I'm on that road frequently, I can tell you that it is not an uncommon occurrence, especially when the coast rides and other rides that use that route to avoid 18 are going on.